This afternoon,the Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is going to be reporting its fiscal third quarter earnings.

Analysts are expecting to see the company hit hard by the current recession, with all segments of the company's business have felt the impact.

I'm always looking for a catalyst that is going to take Disney (NYSE: DIS) to the next level. The stock hasn't been a great performer over time. Just today, the Mouse issued a press release detailing its latest merchandising plans.

Merchandising falls under the consumer products division. Now, one would expect that this segment would always be rocking considering the brand equity inherent in all of Disney's intellectual properties. Well, let's remind ourselves of how the segment did during the last earnings report. In the second quarter, operating income for consumer products dipped 24%. For the six-month period, operating income was down by 13%. Double-digit declines: nobody likes them. Management commentary about the division specifically stated that lower royalty revenue from merchandise helped to drive the performance. As can be seen, Disney needs some good ideas and strategies to return this segment to growth.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about the Mouse House below in the comments.

Anyone who has ever wondered about the term "Mouse House" need only consult the slanguage dictionary of the show business bible Variety, which defines it this way: "the Walt Disney Co. or any division thereof, a reference to the company's most famous animated character, Mickey Mouse." Variety also refers to Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) simply as the "Mouse."

I've recently rediscovered Mickey because of my nearly two-year-old son Jacob, and I'll say that the old rodent looks pretty good. I mean he's not in his Fantasia form, but he can still deliver the goods for the toddler crowd. Jacob probably is confused by many of the same things about Mickey and his gang as I was, such as why Donald Duck wears no pants and what sort of animal is Goofy. Those mysteries will endure until we fulfill our promise to take our son to visit Mickey's house in Florida.

Disney deserves credit for keeping Mickey Mouse relevant for today's kids because it realizes that the character remains vital to the brand of the world's second-largest media company. The company remains the best-run company in the sector and the only stock worth owning.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

My son is an Elmo addict. He has Elmo clothes, Elmo books, and Elmo toys. He insists on listening to an Elmo CD whenever he rides in my car and watches the furry Muppet almost every day on "Sesame Street." Oh yeah, he calls his binky Elmo.

And you know what? This doesn't bother me.

Sesame Street, which has been on the air for about 40 years, is still a quality show. It teaches kids the alphabet, how to count and other important lessons in an entertaining manner. The show has some aspects of Saturday Night Live to it with clever bits like having Oscar the Grouch host something called the "Grouch News Network," which featured CNN's Anderson Cooper.

I realize that his Elmo fascination won't last. My son recently discovered Mickey Mouse on one of Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE: DIS) cable channels. Eventually, Mickey will give way to Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants on Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA) Nickelodeon.

So PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) went public in Shanghai to great fanfare and now the company has a market-cap of over $1 trillion. This gives the company a valuation greater than that of both General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) combined. Not bad considering the company has revenues of just 1/4 that of Exxon. With all due respect to the growth of the Chinese economy, this is a bit ridiculous. Can we even believe the numbers they are reporting? We all talk about the lack of transparency in U.S. corporate earnings (see financial stocks of late); it's 100 times worse in China.

The Chinese stock market has had an amazing run, but what comes up must come down. With all the recent IPO's that have skyrocketed, it sure has the feel of NASDAQ 2000 all over again. Then people used to invest if the ticker symbol had 4 letters. Now people will throw money at anything that has to do with China. Irrational exuberance? You bet!

Will the communist government of China allow the stock market to fall before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing? Probably not, but a bubble has been created and investors should better be forewarned.

From the land where intellectual property is held in the same esteem as last week's Moo Goo Gai Pan, comes news that Disney's characters were successfully cloned.

Apparently, the Beijing-area Shijingshan Amusement Park has been featuring Mickey and Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy and the rest of the Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) gang, as well as settings such as Cinderella's Castle -- right out of the Magic Kingdom.

Until recently, the park even marketed itself with the slogan, "Disneyland is Too Far." However, the Japanese press discovered and reported the deception last month, at the same time the U.S. was preparing to ask the World Trade Organization to address China's piracy issues. Shortly thereafter, the park purged itself of Disneyesque elements.

Ironically, the park has replaced Mickey and Minnie with the mascots of the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. I strongly suspect the park is not paying a license fee for the use of mascots Bei, Jing, Huan, Ying, and Ni, either.

The Beijing Organizing Committee has posted a comprehensive list of restrictions for use of the mascots, which make an amusing read . . . if you like fantasy.

The decision of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) to let gay couples have Fairy Tale weddings at its Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts has everything to do with profits and little to do with social policy.

These wedding packages aren't cheap. The $25,000 Magic Kingdom Park wedding deal in Disney World lets people get married with Cinderella's Castle as a backdrop. Guests are transported down Main Street USA via motorized cars. Costumed trumpeters herald the arrival of the couple in a horse-drawn carriage.

Sounds lovely, no?